Stimulation therapies, including acupuncture and moxibustion of meridian treatments, have been specifically established in oriental medicine through clinical tests for thousands of years, based on the fact that acupoints of meridians connected to the five viscera, the six internal organs, the head and the limbs are reaction and treatment points used for fighting against diseases. Extensive research has been conducted to treat and prevent diseases using acupoints. Under these circumstances, numerous stimulation devices and methods have been developed.
Representative examples of such stimulation methods are metal insertion methods and thermal methods using active ingredients of artemisia. That is, acupoint therapies are recognized as acupuncture-moxibustion treatments.
Moxibustion, which is a representative example of a variety of oriental medical treatments, refers to a method of treatment using heat released when artemisia is burnt.
In past years, moxibustion was performed by burning artemisia or a blend of artemisia and herbal materials. The benefits of moxibustion are not only dependent on the stimulation of the heat released when artemisia or herbal materials are burnt, but also on active ingredients of the artemisia and herbal materials. The active ingredients are absorbed into the skin of the affected parts and acupoints, achieving desired therapeutic effects.
However, there exist dangers of environmental pollution due to a lot of smoke released when artemisia is burnt. In addition, overheating may cause a burn and leave scars on the skin. For these reasons, people are unwilling to receive moxibustion despite its various benefits, which makes moxibustion difficult to popularize and globalize.
Since conventional thermal therapies were performed by burning artemisia or various herbal materials placed on the skin or acupoints, the risk of a burn was inevitable. In recent years, disposable indirect moxibustion and heating devices have been used in a simple manner without any risk of a burn. Further, moxibustion has been developed toward the utilization of chemical heat.
According to some advanced moxibustion techniques, moxibustion effects are achieved by preparing a lotion formulation containing extracts or active ingredients of artemisia and herbal materials without any thermal processing, applying the lotion formulation to the skin, and applying energy, e.g., electric heat, to the skin.
As the smoking effects of cigarettes are obtained when burnt, so the sedative effects of moxibustion are obtained due to heat released and chemical changes occurring in active ingredients of artemisia and herbal materials induced when burnt. In this point of view, the disadvantages of the techniques are that the full effects of active ingredients of artemisia are not attainable.
Further, smokeless moxibustion may be performed by using an additional heater.
However, this moxibustion has some disadvantages in that the procedure is troublesome and the effects are continued for a short period of time.
On the other hand, materials for acupuncture needles have been developed in the order of stones, bones and metals. Recently, a press pellet for inserting into the skin has been developed in the shape of a metal protrusion (FIG. 1). This press pellet doesn't inflict a wound on the skin and eliminates the risk of infection. The metal press pellet shown in FIG. 1 comprises an adhesive member 2, such as an adhesive plaster or tape, and an aluminum or copper protrusion 4 attached to the adhesive member 2. According to the press pellet, however, the skin is stimulated by the needle but moxibustion effects are unobtainable. Further, complex high-priced devices, e.g., electronic and laser needles, using a beam, electricity or magnetism have been developed, which are economically disadvantageous.
Thus, there is a strong need for a method or a device for simultaneously achieving both acupuncture and moxibustion effects in an easy and simple manner without an economic burden.
The present inventor has earnestly and intensively conducted research to overcome problems such as fear, detestation and inconvenience of patients against acupuncture and moxibustion. As a result, the present inventor has found that when functions of acupuncture for skin stimulation in acupoint therapies of oriental medicine are combined with those of moxibustion, the disadvantages of acupuncture (e.g., pain occurring from needle insertion and the danger of infection arising from organ damage caused by needle insertion) and the disadvantages of moxibustion (e.g., heat pain, burns, and smoke) are eliminated while creating complementary synergistic effects of acupuncture and moxibustion. The present invention has been achieved based on this finding.